22 September 2016
Week in Brief: UK
International Politics
FORWARD POLICY: In her first speech to the United Nations, Mrs May confirmed that the UK would continue to spend 2% of GDP on defence. She is also to send troops to Somalia and provide aid to create jobs in Ethiopia. This is a continuation of Mr Cameron’s policy of tackling immigration by improving conditions in the migrants’ home states.
EU: Defence secretary Michael Fallon has said that Britain will resist any attempt to set up an EU army as a rival to NATO. Britain was not invited to the summit at Bratislava where the proposal, which is supported by Paris and Germany, was discussed.
TURKISH PAPER: Zaman, a Turkish opposition newspaper published in Britain, has had to close and its journalists have had to go into hiding because of the campaign of intimidation being waged by President Erdogan against Turkish exiles. The British Embassy in Ankara was closed on Friday for security reasons.
CALAIS: The death of an Afghan teenager who fell from the roof of a lorry and was then run over has focused attention on the number of migrants dying in hit-and-run accidents at Calais. According to the French authorities such accidents are increasingly common and drivers are becoming more reluctant to report them.
SLAVERY GANGS: A new anti-slavery task force, including officers from the security services, GCHQ and the police, is to apply the techniques currently used against terrorists and drug traffickers to target slavery gangs and to free those trafficked to the UK. Speaking at the UN General Assembly, the Prime Minister called for countries to share intelligence and conduct joint operations to help rid the world of this evil. Last year it is believed that victims were trafficked to the UK from 102 different countries, in particular Albania, Vietnam and Nigeria.
EXTRADITION: A UK Court has ordered the extradition to the US of 31 year-old hacker Lauri Love for hacking the FBI, NASA and the Federal Reserve. The decision as to whether the decision will be confirmed lies with Home Secretary, Amber Rudd. Mr Love suffers from Asperger’s syndrome.
Medicine
PRIVATE PRACTICE: From next April, NHS England will require every hospital to provide a register of the private earnings of consultants in an attempt to improve transparency in the health service. The move is part of a review whose purpose is to reveal conflicts-of-interest which may not be being handled sufficiently rigorously. The review, which is led by Sir Malcolm Grant, is not proposing to ban or restrict private practice but sees the fact that it is “below the radar” as a concern. The London Consultants’ Association has warned that it will fight the plans on the basis that what doctors do when not working for the NHS is up to them. Doctors will also be required to disclose payments from drug companies.
CANCER SCANS: Nicolas Strickland, the president of the Royal College of Radiologists, claims that the shortage of doctors able to interpret scans threatens the treatment of serious diseases by the National Health Service. Over the last three years, demand for scans has risen by more than a quarter but there has only been a 5% increase in the number of radiologists. This is a particular concern in relation to cancer where delay in interpreting scans may result in growths becoming inoperable.
DRUG PRICES: Health secretary Jeremy Hunt is introducing new rules designed to prevent drug companies from dramatically increasing the price of drugs which are out of patent and sold as unbranded medicines. Previously the price charged for such drugs was unregulated although the manufacturer often enjoyed a monopoly in practice. Under the new Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Bill, the Government will have power to impose price limits where the NHS is being overcharged. Shadow health secretary Diane Abbott has criticised the government for not having tackled the problem earlier although they have been aware of it for two years.
Party Conferences
LABOUR PARTY: Owen Smith, who is challenging Jeremy Corbyn for leadership of the Labour Party, has said that he was not in favour of a leadership election so soon after Mr Corbyn’s appointment but that once the election had been called he felt he needed to stand. The result, widely expected to be a victory for Mr Corbyn, will be announced at the Labour Party conference which begins on Saturday. Also on the agenda is a proposal from the Deputy Leader, Tom Watson, that the shadow Cabinet should in future be appointed by MPs. Mr Corbyn’s own proposal that it be appointed by the membership is being deferred and will be considered as part of a wider review of party democracy.
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats has demanded, in a speech at the party conference, a second EU referendum on the terms of Brexit, a proposal described as counter productive by his colleague the former business secretary Vince Cable.
UKIP: MEP Diane James, the new leader of the UKIP, has called on Mrs May to give notice under article 50 as soon as possible and has accused her of stealing UKIP policies such as the reintroduction of grammar schools.
General
RAILWAYS: Govia Thameslink, holder of the troubled Southern Railway franchise, has promised substantial improvements in the number of trains and in timetables once the engineering work at London Bridge is completed and the new Thameslink project is delivered. The promise has been met with scepticism by critics who say that in any case what is needed is an improvement services now.
HMRC: Following an announcement by HMRC that they would strip the US firm Concentrix of its contract to reduce fraud and error in the tax credit system, sources close the company are claiming that incorrect data which led to 6000 people having their tax credits wrongly cut was provided by HMRC itself. It has also been suggested that HMRC made matters worse by refusing to extend appeal deadlines.
HINKLEY POINT: The Prime Minister has approved the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant which is to be built by the French company EDF and financed in part by investment from China. The government has said that it will take a special share in future nuclear projects such as the proposed Chinese built reactor at Bradwell on Sea, Essex. The share will enable it to block changes of ownership on grounds of national security.
The security services are said to be concerned that there is insufficient security assessment of foreign investors in, and suppliers to, the UK. A particular worry is the supply by a Chinese company of a large proportion of the surveillance equipment used here.
FLOODING: Torrential rainfall on Friday caused flooding in the West of England and severely disrupted services out of Paddington. A landslip near Watford derailed a train from Milton Keynes to Euston and the maternity unit at Wallingford hospital had to be closed because of high water levels.
ORGREAVE ENQUIRY: A number of politicians, including Lord Tebbit and Cherie Blair, have spoken out against the public enquiry demanded by the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign on the grounds that the clash between police and miners took place in 1984 and that the enquiry will be a complete waste of time.
Sport
MEDICAL HACKERS: Hackers calling themselves the Tsar Team have released copies of medical documents obtained from the World Anti-Doping Agency disclosing medical details of twenty-five athletes including Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome. It has been suggested that the hackers are linked with the Russian intelligence services and are hoping to deflect attention from the recent doping scandal concerning Russian athletes. There is no suggestion that any of the athletes whose details have been released were involved in illegal activities.
PARALYMPICS: The British Paralympics team has returned from Brazil with 147 medals, 64 of them gold, and second place in the medals table after China. The tally of medals exceeded the 120 received in London four years ago.
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